Customer Reviews

Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology

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Words are really inadequate to describe the import of this work. Revolutionary, historic, groundbreaking? The feeling I had when it was delivered was like holding an advance copy of Takaki's work, "Strangers From a Different Shore". I was holding something that hadn't been seen before. After reading it, I was speechless, because for the first time in this genre, I saw myself reflected unapologetically in the stories and artwork contained in the pages of this book. I never thought I'd live to see the day where I had the opportunity to read about APA superheroes and eventually, share them with my children. An excellent job by everyone involved in this project, and a "must own" for the personal libraries of anyone interested in Asian-American studies, modern mythology and folklore/oral histories. After picking some copies up for your friends and family, ask your local library to carry it. Smart, witty, and visually stunning, I hope this title is only the vanguard and herald of more to come.

Length:: 0:14 Mins

Secret Identities is one of the few comic anthologies I enjoy tremendously. There are 48 chapters, all drawn by Asian Americans -- of course -- but a few are 1-page superhero profiles and stories. So really, there are only 40 longer stories.

For most of the 1-page stories, it's an artist talking about the concept of superheroes, Asian Americans and the influence of Asia on western comics. The longer stories are really fun, bizarre and creative.

The book starts off with a comic book cover art of "The Y-Men", featuring super lame superheroes with quotes like "Feel the suicidal wrath of KamiKazei", "Sweaty Feet of Coolie are express ticket to hell", "The myopic blasts of Four Eyes" and "Special delivery from Riceman pork-fried pain". This pretty much sets the satiric tone for the book, although there are more serious stories as well.

My favourite story is "James", written by Michael Kang and drawn by Erwin Haya. James's power is super-agility and super-strength. His partner has the ability to emit light, like a light bulb. Somehow amazingly, James began to lose the limelight (pun intended) to his partner and his career crashed. In the end, he had to start over going to like N.O.A.S.S* and A.S.S.H.O* networking events. *Which translate to National Organization of Supers and Sidekicks, and Asian Student Super Hero Organization.

My second favourite "A day at Customeco". This family is shopping at a groceries supermarket dedicated to superhero shoppers and suddenly a how-dumb-can-you-get villain strikes! Now imagine every superhero rushing in for the kill.

The story concept and creativity are really commendable. The superheroes are shown in many different aspect of life, in different communities, going about their daily chores. It's mix and match everywhere, littered it with funny quotes.

This book is highly amusing and should appeal to more than just Asian Americans.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

Get yourself a copy!! I Highly recommend it. I really enjoyed almost ALL of the stories that were told here. Most of the stories were told by actual incidents using superhero characters. The stories are all told through the views from Asian Americans perspective. The stories have very strong messages. I wished they actually produced these characters in actual comic books, because Asian Americans doesn't have any cool superheroes all they get are the stereotypical characters such as a martial arts master, ninja, samurais etc, nothing further. It is as if they are restricted of ever becoming a superhero. This book shows that Asian Americans can be and need superheroes too.

Unfortunately, the Kindle version of this book is too low resolution to make out some of the text. I was only a few pages into it before I ran into a panel with a narrative block and a word bubble which both used small lettering and were both too low resolution to read. I'm using the iPad 2 Kindle app, but I've seen the same sort of problem on the Kindle itself, with some manga and with illustrations in text-based Kindle books. The scan resolution just isn't high enough for fine detail that you could easily read on a printed page. And zooming the picture, of course, just gives you a blurry larger image, so no help there.

I'm returning this and buying the print version instead, which I'm sure will be excellent.

So, why in the history of comic books have there been no Asian Americans portrayed as the primary hero? There are sidekicks, like Kato, the Green Hornet's chauffeur, but always in a very subordinate role. And this at a time when a number of Asian Americans were among the leading comic book authors and artists. Like Blacks, of course, Asians are highly visible in a mostly white society. The nuances separating those of Irish and German and even Italian descent are far less obvious. Anyway, Yang and some of his friends decided it was time to rectify matters and they put together this collection in which the protagonists are Asian. Unfortunately, the result isn't especially successful. There are more than forty pieces in a book totaling 190 pages, and a few are pretty lengthy, which means most of them run only three or four pages -- not enough to present and develop an entirely new character, much less to lay out a plot or a narrative. "Heroes Without a Country" is a classic G.I. Joe sort of tale, with a crew of enhanced American troops assaulting a Nazi stronghold filled with super-villains. The problem is that, as in a great many of these stories, the characters don't look "Asian." If you hadn't read them in this volume, you would never had guessed that was the artist's intent. Others, like "The Citizen," start off in an interesting way -- but then stop dead, as if the author/artist team came up against their page limit and through away the rest of their work. "The Blue Scorpion and Chung" is probably the best story in the book, with a point to make regarding Anglo-Asian relations and loyalties. In "Trinity," the three main characters are Filipino, Japanese, and American, and the rather shaky plot has to do with the legacy of American troops in the Far East. In "No Exit," the characters are Saudis (or perhaps Iraqis, it's very unclear) in America in 1941 -- but Anglo readers don't ordinarily lump Moslems from that part of the world in with Japanese and Chinese and Koreans. Asia is a very big place. "You Are What You Eat," a not-bad piece is about Chinese customs and culture -- but, again, the art makes the characters look more Latin than Asian. (No, they shouldn't be visual clichés, but if they and their surroundings and even their names are indistinguishable from European-Americans, what's the point of the book?) In "Learn to Share," the characters are Thai, but I had to reread the story several times to figure it out. For me, the best piece was "A Day at Costumeco," in which the characters are generic "Far Eastern," but the plot is a lot more fun than in most of these efforts, involving an embarrassed young girl discovering just what sort of superhero she is. I understand what the writers and artists were attempting to do with this collection, and I applaud them for it, but the idea and its execution are worlds apart. Perhaps they should have planned on a series and restricted themselves to only five or six stories per volume, taking the time to develop each one properly.

Powerful and approachable. A pioneer in storytelling. Secret Identities (SI) features Asian American (AA) characters in plots launched from current and historical AA events. Like a superhero, SI strikes social atrocities without any fear. Harsh realities ranging from interment, to detainees, to immigration are treated with respect and dignity. It speaks of our past and inspires the future.

This anthology goes beyond the usual fare in Asian American literature, beyond the pains of immigrant assimilation and of youth straddling two cultures. The stories probe far beyond individual experiences and delve into the social practices and implication of Asian American life. Questioning and calling into examination institutionalized racism and the undercurrent of power against AA.

I admire the approach taken by the creators to develop a piece written with AA as the target audience. Too often, contemporary Asian American literature becomes a shout of angry with the goal to illuminate our hardship for non Asian Americans to gain an understanding of our sphere. While SI does serve to bridge the gap, more importantly it captures the collective Asian American psyche. Multiple readings are needed for the full depth of the intricacies to emerge.


Secret Identities is more than a book. It's a product of Asian American joining up and declaring the success and vibrancy of our population.

I hope sales will be successful enough for a second volume to follow. I look forward to seeing the current stories such as the Hibakusha develop further as well as increase inclusion of Southeast and South Asian stories. I want to pre-order copies of Volume 2 today!

~Patience Yee
[...]

Though this novel is comprised of many short stories, it successfully narrates the past, present and future of Asian-American experiences. I found myself reading the anthology from beginning to end in one day because of it's unprecedented nature. Being Asian-American myself, I grew up idolizing "super heroes" such as Superman, Batman, and even Spiderman, failing to realize that I was void of a relative role model, one that experienced the type of trials and tribulations that I would have to face in my own daily activities. I definitely recommend this anthology to all first, second, and any generation Asian-Americans. It will open your eyes to historical events within the Asian-American culture and reveal the potential we have as Asian-Americans to one day be accepted for our skills, contribution and overall presence in American society.

This graphic novel is a testament to great and diverse storytelling, not only in words but also in art. Whether you are a comics fan or simply like to indulge in good books, Secret Identities will awaken many new literary experiences in you. Historic. Surprising. Entertaining.

I absolutely adore this beautiful book; the writings are insightful and the drawings are expressive. I am grateful for these Asian American writers, artists, and comics professionals who have come together to create twenty-six wonderful stories. These stories will definitely inspire younger generations to explore their own culture and identity.

"Hello, Dear! I see you've put my gift to good use." said Nai-Nai in "You Are What You Eat." The editors of this book, and the writers and artists whose work is in it, certainly have given a wonderful gift to all of us. Put it to good use--read, dream about, and share Secret Identities.

I just wish I had these stories to read when I was growing up. But as an adult, I can still identify with the characters' struggles, successes, and dreams. As another reader mentioned, reading these stories makes me feel like I am more powerful than a locomotion :)

Coming of age, as it were, during the days of World War II, comic books have not always presented progressive models of the Asian American experience. In fact, they could be downright racist in their heyday back then. And while much has changed since then, one thing that hasn't is the blatant underrepresentation of Asian characters in comic books.

Enter Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, a broad collection of 26 stories featuring Asian protagonists. The timing is right for such a book, and it capitalizes on it nicely. The method of delivery the book often employs is satire, chronicling a "shadow history" of the United States but with Asian players. It works quite well most of the time (the biggest drawback of the book is the cover itself; the bright green cover doesn't do justice to the entertaining and provocative stories contained within).

Four editors worked on bringing Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology to press. Within, a multitude of writers and artists lent their talents to the storytelling. Some of them are big names in the industry, including Gene Luen Yang, Greg Pak, and Christine Norrie. It's a superhero anthology at heart, through and through, which works for the shadow history format. Parallelling the secret, hidden lives of Asian Americans with the hidden identities of superheroes makes sense, as does using comics to redress the glowering oversight of one of the country's largest population groups.

The stories are as powerful as the superheroes within, and they deal with pivotal events ranging from the birth of the country up to modern times. A particularly moving story focuses on James Kim. You may not remember the name, but you probably know the story of the family who was stuck in their car for a week during a horrific snowstorm in late 2006. Kim left his wife and two children in the car while he walked to try to find help. He made it approximately 16 miles before succumbing to hypothermia. That Kim's story, one that the entire nation felt and mourned, is told in Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology is apt and moving.

Happier stories are found inside its pages as well. All kinds of stories, and all kinds of art styles, make it in, in fact. All of which makes Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology such an enjoyable experience. It's never heavy-handed, nor does it take itself too seriously. Its characters, much like its creators, see the format for what it is and they want in on the fun. Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology lets them, and it lets the rest of us in on the fun too.

-- John Hogan